Tag Archives: short stories

STARRAGAAR AWAKENS in the strange bedroom. She clutches her head as she is still in a lot of pain. At first, her vision is blurry. Everything in the strange bedroom is fuzzy. Then, after a few moments, Starragaar’s sight starts to become clearer. At her feet sleeps Sebasti. She screams when she sees the brawker. Sebasti jumps as Vanolin, Tara, and Janeeri enter the room.

“This has got to be a dream or I’m in hell,” Starragaar mutters trying to clear her head and focus on where she is.

“Someone I know well was here, too. I remember hearing his voice. I believe that he told you my name.” Starragaar says sitting up and petting Sebasti on the top of his head. Sebasti’s two tails wag wildly.

BY MID-MORNING, GAVIN, VANOLIN, and their patrol enter a field on the outskirts of Valendale Woods. Debris is everywhere. All of them disembark their horses. Gavin looks around the field and makes a small remark to himself.

“Debris of a starfighter.”

“Sir?” Vanolin asks the king quizzically.

“Nothing.” The king replies.

“Spread out and search the field for anything significant.” Vanolin orders his men.

The knights under Vanolin’s command spread out. A very wiry, quick knight by the name of Wilhelm Gainright finds something very significant indeed. He holds it into the air. It’s the pilot helmet of Starragaar.

“Sir, I found something,” the dusty blond knight shouts.

“Bring it to me,” Vanolin orders Lord Gainright.

Lord Gainright rushes over to Lord Gavin and Lord Vanolin.

“Here you go, sir.” The wiry knight says to Vanolin as he places the rather battered helmet into his hands.

“Thank you, Sir Wilhelm. Continue your search.” Vanolin tells one of his knights. He, then, turns and looks at Gavin with the helmet still in his hands. “Sir, what do you make of this?”

“Look at the triangular protrusions on the top of the helmet.”

“I see them. So?”

“Only a few races, I know of, use helmets like this.”

“Sir, what are you talking about?”

“And these markings,” Gavin says rubbing his fingers over the carved stripes in the top of the helmet. “This helmet is Bengaali.”

“Sir, what is a Bengaali?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Gavin tells Vanolin while he is still holding the battered helmet of Starragaar. “Now tell your men to wrap up and head back. I need you to take me to Janeeri’s home.”

“Yes, sir.”

Gavin looks off into the sky holding the helmet himself now. He bounces the helmet in his left hand while gripping it with his right hand. Why are you here?!?

Michael stands atop a hill overlooking the ceremony of his love, Lind McKay. He could not face the McKays himself, but he still had to pay his respects, even if from afar. Tears come to his eyes as the wind whips around him while person after person lays white roses upon the coffin of Linda McKay. His sister, Deborah, follows up by placing the locket he gave to her upon the casket. A request of his to his sister.

“My heart goes with you, my love,” he murmurs to himself as a detective of the Storm City Police Department comes to his side.

“Here.” he says placing the ring in Michael’s hand. “I though you might want this.”

“Thank you, Trevor,” he says to the dark haired detective as he places sunglasses over his now light sensitive eyes.

“I promise you, Michael, we will find Linda’s killers.”

“You better get to them before I do.”

“Don’t do anything stupid, Michael,” he tells the angry, heart broken young man.

“Hey, it’s me.” Michael says sarcastically with a huge grin.

“That’s why I warned you.” Trevor says to his friend. “This may be bigger than you think. Your curiosity tends to ruffle feathers.”

Trevor, then, turns and walks down the hill over to the road where his car, a 1997 silver Chevrolet Malibu, was located. Michael hears the motor turn as he watches the funeral attendees leave. As the Malibu leaves the cemetery, Deborah looks up atop the hill where she thought someone was standing earlier. Then, she hears the roar of a motorcycle.

KING GAVIN TAVISCHOLM I, wearing a green tunic with a pattern golden circles connected together by lines under his silver armor, sits upon his curved golden throne with deep blue satin cushions listening to one of his older knights report of a commotion that was heard miles away. Behind the king are deep blue banners with the DarkwindPass logo of three parallel wavy lines in gold. Furthermore, the banners are also trimmed in gold.

The older balding knight, Sir Corwyn Thallos, informs the long grey haired king that an explosion happened on the other side of Valendale Woods. Or so the knight believes. The deep blue cloaked knight is asked if Sir Vanolin Rillon, his partner is awaiting his return outside the throne room doors in the stone hallway. The elder knight replies that he is.

“Thank you for the report, Sir Corwyn,” the grey bearded king says to one of his most trusted knights. “Please send in Sir Vanolin.”

“Yes, my lord,” the knight, wearing a deep blue tunic under silver armor, replies to Gavin. After bowing to the king, Corwyn turns and marches down the long blue and golden trimmed carpet past several elite guards towards the large wooden double doors at the end of the chamber. He, then, exits the throne room to where his friend, Vanolin is awaiting his return.

“I’m not sure, my friend,” the middle aged knight tells his partner. “But if you wish to find out, I suggest that you talk to him.”

“I will!” boldly states Vanolin. He then turns, with his flowing royal blue cloak behind him and marches into the throne room, slamming open the wooden double doors. He quickly strides pasts the several golden armored elite guards lining the carpet headed towards the throne. Rillon, a noble knight, stops at the bottom of the steps leading to the platform on which the throne sits. Vanolin, in all his grandeur kneels before the king and bows in respect.

“Ah, Sir Vanolin, so glad you decided to join us,” Gavin shrewdly states to the young knight while two of his elite guards flank him on either side of the throne. “I have some things that I wish to speak with you about.”

“Yes, my lord, how can I help?”

“Your brother, he still lives near Valendale Woods?”

“As I recall, yes,” a very surprised Vanolin replies to the king’s question. “Why?”

“I have some things that I wish to discuss with him, myself,” Gavin says as he gets up from his throne and begins walking towards Vanolin. “Walk with me.”

“Sir?” the young renowned knight replies as they begin to walk to Gavin’s left from the throne. They walk a path that ultimately leads to the royal chambers from the throne.

“But what does this have to do with Janeeri,” asks Vanolin as they continue towards the royal chambers.

“Keep your voice down, son,” Gavin says to Vanolin. “There are those here who wish to overthrow me. But, I digress. I know your brother was there and found the treasure.”

“What treasure?!? What are you talking about, sir?”

“Look, we need to go to that site immediately,” Gavin says as they stop in front of the royal chambers not noticing one of the elite guards watching them from around the corner. “Get your men ready, we leave at dawn.”

“Yes, sir.” Vanolin states, confused more now than when he entered. He, then, turns and walks away. As the young knight is walking away, Gavin enters his chambers for some somber sleep. The elite guard watching them rubs the underside of his helmet. The guard, then, turns and leaves his post heading towards the Mess Hall.

Elise awakens the next morning to her cat licking her freckled face. She lifts the white tabby cat off of her and sets him on the bed. She, then, slides her feet out of the bed into ragged bunny slippers, the cat has been using them as claw sharpeners.

The cat, Spiro, follows Elise, in her white tanks top and green Tinkerbell pajama pants, into the kitchen where she fixes his bowl of soft cat food, Tuna and Seafood flavor. After plopping it into the bowl, she throws the pull top can away. It smells bad to her. Elise, then, places the bowl in its usual place at the foot of the wall by the counter. Spiro begins to eat it right up.

Elise, then, drags herself across the room from the kitchen to the living room where she slumps onto the black leather hand me down couch. She turns on the TV. There is a breaking story on the news.

“Not again,” she mutters to herself as the news story begins.

The reporter, in a blue sport coat with red tie and white button-down shirt, begins with an image of a silhouette of a person with police caution tape in front and a red word missing across the whole graphic.

“Two more people have disappeared overnight from Cyprus Falls. No bodies have been recovered, thus far. The police are baffled by the rash of disappearances within the last week alone. The citizens of Cyprus Falls are warned not to go out alone, if possible.

“Great,” Elise cynically mutters as Spiro jumps in her lap. She begins to stroke the cat as the phone rings. Elise reaches behind her for the phone and cat jumps out of her lap.

“Hello?” she says picking up the phone.

“I’m watching you.” She hears over the phone. “You’ll be safe.”

“Okay…” she awkwardlly responds to the caller. “Who are you?!?”

“You’re guardian angel,” a melodic voice tells her.

“Hey! You’re that guy…” Elise starts to say as the phone goes silent. “So he is not as rude as I thought. But why is he watching out for me?”

Michael lies near the brink of death in a hospital bed. He has been unconscious since the paramedics brought him in from Dossier Park, several days ago. His sister, Deborah is worried that he might not make it. Withoutthe doctor’s knowledge, she used her healing powers upon her brother and her best friend.

Michael awakens this early morning as the sun shines in through his window. Tubes go in and out every orafice upon Michael’s body Furthermore, wires connect him to various monitoring devices. Deborah still at his side, barely awake herself, nods to her brother to acknowledge that he is awake.

A nurse and doctor quickly respondThe tan skinned nurse with dark brown eyes, Lithaela Shivshander, and the tall statuesque blond doctor, Caleb Tudor, enter the room. The doctor begins taking Michael’s vitals as some of the tubes are now removed.

Michael gags as they remove the breathing tube, they used to intebate him, from his throat. After it is completely removed he coughs.

“Debbie…” he barely says.

“Hold on there, Mr. Reynolds,” Dr. Tudor says to his patient, who is looking up at him with a little disdain. “Your throat is going to hurt for a few hours. Limit your talking. Let it rest.”

With a grimmace, Michael nods in agreement. He rubs his throat as Dr. Tudor writes down the vitals in his chart.

“Outside of that, you’re vitals are good.” Caleb says looking over the chart. “We’re gonna keep you here for another day or two for observation. then you’ll be able to go home, Mr. Reynolds.”

JANEERI, a man with jet black spiky hair, tan fur with brown spots; works in his garden just on the outskirts of Parrenthia near the famed Valendale Woods. His brawker, a two-tailed canine, with short white fur and black spots; named Sebasti, lays under a nearby tree as Janeeri tills the ground getting ready to lay the next harvest’s crop.

Suddenly, his ears perk up as he hears a sonic boom from a distance far away. Janeeri’s head turns in the direction of the sonic boom. Sebasti’s head, also, perks up looking inquisitively at his master.

Quickly, Sebasti jumps to all fours and the two begin sprinting through the woods. Janeeri knows they are getting closer due to the smell of the burning fuselage and the sound of the roaring fire.

The fire grows more intense as they close in on the crash site on the opposite side of the woods from Janeeri’s little cottage. Then, Janeeri and Sebasti stop in the bushes as they see the wreckage.

“What is that?” A confused Janeeri remarks. What he sees is a starfighter buried, partially, in the dirt as the fuselage of the wings burn and the plasmadrive to the right of the cockpit leaks near the kindling of part of the burning wing. “Is that a … metal bird?”

As Janeeri says this, the shattered cockpit opens only to have the glass completely break apart from the starship. From the starship, emerges a pilot who stumbles and falls onto the ground. The pilot, whose orange furred and black striped tail swishes back and forth, picks herself up off the ground and continues away from the ship. She is grabbing her right side with her left arm while her right arm in hanging limp. The pilot moans due the pain as she continues on.

Janeeri and Sebasti emerge from the bushes to go help the pilot, when a bright light comes before them forcing Janeeri to block his eyes with his arms. This light goes straight up into the air and out. the concussive force from the light sends the farmer and his brawker reeling into a large tree knocking the wind out of each of them. At the same time, the pilot is lifted into the air with her back being fried in the process. As the explosion of the starfighter subsides, she lands hard upon her face and bounces.

Janeeri, seeing the pilot injured, reaches for her, but quickly removes his hand as the pilot’s ancient katana-like blade, the tig-do-ra blade, which is melted and mutilated lands near her head where his hand previously was. Afterwards, Janeeri, still catching his breath, manages to crawl over to the pilot. Once there, he rolls her over to see how injured she is. The pilot’s helmet rolls off revealing a bruised female with red hair, orange fur with black stripes, and pointy ears. She stills continues to moan in pain.

“An alien female were-cat?!?” Janneri mutters aloud as he strains to stand up. He can feel the bruised ribs as he tries to breath normally. Then, Janeeri tries to lift the pilot off the ground as her body still is smoking from the explosion. Janeeri can smell the burnt fur and singed flesh.

“Whoa.” he remarks as he strains to lift the five foot four inch frame of the pilot. Then, he regains his composure and throws the pilot over his shoulder. “Uh, man, you’re heavier than I thought.”

Janeeri, then, whistles for Sebasti who comes to his master limping. The brawker looks up at his master with sad eyes. He is carrying the mangled blade in his mouth.

“We’ll get you checked out shortly. Come on, boy.” Janeeri tells the brawker at his feet.

Quickly, the two make their way through the woods over to Janeeri’s cottage. Once at the deep red wood cottage with front porch, Janeeri opens the front door and enters. He, then, moves through the quaint living room carrying the alien pilot. Then, he goes past the dining room into the master bedroom, where he sits her down upon the bed.

Copyright Info.

All material upon this site is Copyright Rainey Press, 2012. Rainey Press is a Copyright of Bryan Rainey, founder and author. All rights reserved. Express written permission Rainey Press and Bryan Rainey. All characters are completely fictional and the works are completely original in content. Any likenesses to actual people is purely conincedental and meant as no offencse by the author.